Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just heard a interesting snippet of news on the radio. The report stated that several states are thinking about putting a TAX on each mile that you drive if you own a truck or SUV. The reason? It seems that as a result of the recession people are driving less which means they are not buying as much gasoline which is good for our wallets and good for the enviroment BUT NOT GOOD for the states bottom line because they TAX gas so much they depend on that money to fix the roads.
It gets worse the report also stated that next month if you live in the state of Washington and if you own a Prius or other type of hybrid vehicle that gets high mileage you will be TAXED a annual fee of $100 !!!
OK let me get this straight: The FEDS demand that all vehicles get better gas miles and the manufacturers are complying the best they can and then the States start taxing you for making a decision to buy a economical car or in the case of the levy against trucks and SUV's you get fined for not having a economical vehicle ????
My wife and I own 4 cars and our commute to work is about 5 miles. What's next are we going to be fined I mean TAXED for not driving enough?
MA is already talking about this. One problem is that with hybrids and electric cars, the states and the Fed are getting less money... It is rather unfair given that we already pay a per mile tax via the gas tax. I pay more per mile with my SUV than a Prius driver pays.
To me, the last thing we need is yet another way for the government to collect taxes.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,225,683 times
Reputation: 57825
The Prius and other hybrids and electrics are no less responsible than any other cars for the maintenance of roads. The problem is simply that with less/no gas tax they are not paying their share. Here in WA it is being studied, and would be replacing the gas tax. That is far more fair, since those that use the roads the most would pay more than those that drive only occasionally. In my case for example, we have 3 vehicles but I only drive 2 miles to the park & ride to take the bus, while my wife drives less than a mile to work. We'll save a lot of money. People who use gas for things like lawnmowers, leaf blowers and boats that don't use roads will also then be saving money. I'm all for it.
Instead of a whole new tax scheme, they should just raise the gas tax.
This is really the simplest answer. All the collection mechanisms exist to do this.
The thing it doesn't do is address the idea that electric and hyrbrid cars, which still cause the same wear and tear on the roads as gasoline cars, will pay a disproportionately low amount of taxes used to build and maintain roads.
And how exactly are they going to tell how many miles we drive? Send around a bunch of odometer readers every month or so?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
